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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28561746">Immortal and Divine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anaya_of_Wolves/pseuds/Anaya_of_Wolves'>Anaya_of_Wolves</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Chance Meetings, Crossover, Gen, Immortality, Loneliness, Meeting and Parting, throughout the years</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 01:20:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28561746</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anaya_of_Wolves/pseuds/Anaya_of_Wolves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Throughout her life as she carried the Staff, Kassandra had met with some interesting people.  She had never imagined meeting others so similar and yet still not quite the same as her.  Immortality had been her burden alone, at least as long as she carried the Staff.  But it was still refreshing, at times, to see others and feel, briefly, that the heavy weight of time wasn't as heavy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Immortal and Divine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This has been an idea in the making, and even longer time for me to write it all out.  I love writing about Kassandra and the times she spent wandering the world.  I figured that it would also be very interesting to see her interacting with another group of immortals.  Really, that is all that was needed to inspire this fic, that and some people on my tumblr saying that they would like to see it to.  So, finally here it is!</p><p>Leave some Kudos and Comments, please~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was during a trip to Athens, to visit her old friend Socrates, that Kassandra noticed the woman.  A walk through the many streets had her passing so many faces, that it shouldn’t be possible for one to stand out to her unless they immediately caught her attention.  It was but just a brief moment too, barely a look, but something inside of her <em>knew</em>.</p><p>Maybe with all the fights against monsters, wars, men, and stories of the gods that made her feel something.  But whatever such a feeling was, Kassandra knew that the woman she had locked eyes but a moment with wasn't <em>mortal</em>.</p><p>No other mortal carried herself as that woman did.</p><p>But it had just been a glance.  One face among so many.  Kassandra didn't know if the immortal had been for her or some other unlucky mortal.  Either way, she left it to a sight beyond sight and met up with her philosophical friend.</p><p>Who then had to ask her a question without an answer.</p><p>"What is the nature of immortality, Kassandra?" he asked her as he watched a group of potters sculpt their clay into shapes.  First, they were formless, until a shape took hold under their fingertips.</p><p>"I don't know, Socrates," she answered back, crossing her arms over her chest as his question made her ponder.  It certainly was a less annoying and invasive one than his others about freedom and thoughts.  "I suppose only gods truly know that.  They, and those recorded in the songs."</p><p>Socrates began to hum in thought, eyes still watching the artisans continue their crafts.  It was actually a bit unnerving to see him so pensive and quiet.  He liked to talk, she knew from experience, but he also liked to hear discussion too.  When he was quiet, that meant he was really thinking about a subject, lost in the sea of wisdom within him.</p><p>With a gesture of his hand towards those that were making clay crafts, he spoke to her, "<em>Creation is man's immortality and brings him nearest to the gods.</em>"</p><p>Kassandra nodded, though not quite understanding how that answered his question about immortality.  She understood what he <em>meant</em>, how man could create things that lasted far longer than their lives or even memory.  She had traveled all around Greece and seen the wonders she held.</p><p>“But,” he spoke, lowering his hand with a frown as one of the potters beat his clay back into a blob, “it is still temporary too.  Nothing can last forever, can it?  Where is immortality, if it is not among man and what all he can make?”</p><p>That Kassandra did not know.  She stared out to those people, still working their crafts.  Then her eyes wandered to the busy markets and people talking and walking about the city.  It was so alive, and it had been for some time.  But she knew that it easily could fall to the ground.  A plague nearly did that already.</p><p>“Maybe it is the people, what is inside of them, that is immortal,” she answered him back, though her voice held that questioning tone that always made Socrates smirk a little bit.  Even now, it was there as she glanced over at him.  “The gods gave us souls, that will go to the Underworld and remain.  Is that not immortality too?”</p><p>Socrates nodded once.  “Ah, but why?  And why not their bodies too?  What is the truth of immortality that lives within our bodies that makes it so?”</p><p>More questions.  Kassandra knew that this would happen in meeting with her friend.  But they did not turn her away from him.  The questions picked at her brain like buzzards on a carcass.  Something about them made her feel as though she should try to figure them out.  Or at least keep them in her thoughts for more than just a passing thought.</p><p>Immortality, it was a story tale gift and curse altogether.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>&gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt;</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The weight of carrying the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus was a heavy burden, even when it wasn't in her hands.  Kassandra had been warned by her birth father the weight it would bear, as did Aletheia also warn her of the weight.  All this power of the ancients sat in her control, and she would have to remain balanced in this world to keep Order and Chaos from destroying it.</p><p>But it wasn't just the Staff that weighed heavily on her.</p><p>The first hundred years was the longest.  Seeing everyone she loved and cared for die made her nearly mad with grief.  Leaving Greece appeared to be her only option, if only for a few decades before she returned.</p><p>When new empires began to rise, similar but not to her own home, that is when she began to move.  No real place in mind, but to see the entirety of the Mother Gaia and all that marked along her body.  Knowledge began her quest, like Pythagoras before her.  Maybe he would have been proud of her for it.</p><p>But knowledge still did not ease the weight she carried.</p><p>People fought.  Wars raged.  Religions toppled one another.  Stories were told and forgotten.  It seemed nothing truly ever disappeared in this world.  Just repeated or came back once men had forgotten it.  Kassandra wondered if that was a curse from her long-worshipped gods or just the fallacies of being "mortal."</p><p>One would have asked her, in all the years she lived, about that.  If anyone knew.</p><p>But she had not found anyone yet, then, that knew the truth about her.  It wouldn't be for another few hundred years before she would be able to find kindred souls that walked the earth without falling to Death's grip.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>&gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt;</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>When she did meet another -or rather, several of them- similar to herself, it was because one of them was dead.</p><p>He didn't stay dead for long, of course.  Enough for Kassandra to jump into the fray of the bandits attacking the cavern, killing them with the ease of her strength and years, and meeting the sharp stare that she could recognize in any reflection.  The woman who wielded an axe kept it up and readied against Kassandra long past the last of their foes was dead.</p><p>"Andromache, Nicolò-" spoke the other man within the group, who cradled the shoulders of the man who must be named Nicolò.  The way he said it made her heart ache, hearing how much he cared for him by saying his name alone.</p><p>So, in one selfish moment, Kassandra summoned the Staff and held it pointed at the prone man.  She ignored the yells from the woman named Andromache and another, waiting for the summon powers of the Ancients Ones to help heal the injuries.</p><p>When he began to gasp without issue, without the Staff's powers being summoned, that was when Kassandra knew that these were not ordinary people.</p><p>"How did you-" she began to say, watching as Nicolò met the eyes of the man still holding him and speaking in reassuring murmurs of another language than the one being spoken.</p><p>"We will be asking you that.  You and your staff here," Andromache told her firmly, holding a sharp stare.</p><p>Kassandra knew she was now in a very unique situation.  She summoned the Staff in the midst of others, and apparently, she witnessed something that they had not wanted her to.  Its power still hummed in her hand, ready to defend her.  Even though the words spoken by Aletheia reminded her of the responsibility of power in her hands and the wrong choices it could bring.  Kassandra felt that these people held a similar gift as well.  At least they were even in such regards.  </p><p>The bright sun high above them beat down on them and began to dry the spilled blood from the previous fight.  A few craven birds waited and circled above now for the feast laid below.  There was a tense silence as Kassandra tried to find the words to speak.  The group waited with darken eyes, sharpened and afraid in some gazes.</p><p>So, she told them plainly, "I will not harm you."</p><p>"We are not worried about that," the one with long black strands of hair that moved with the desert breeze.  "We are concerned by <em>what</em> you saw."</p><p>Once more the stalemate continued between them all.  Kassandra was out-numbered but not out-challenged by these four.  It might be a hard fight, but worse odds had been against her in the past.  Be that as it may, fighting strangers, people who didn't seem to do anything wrong, made her not want to really fight them.</p><p>"And you saw something too," she answered back, her voice skirting that teasing edge of seriousness that always had her mother shaking her head.  "But I truly do not wish to fight you, only came to aide.  And he…"</p><p>Nicolò met her gaze when she glanced to him.  It was a bit difficult to read, as though he wanted no one to really know what he thought.  She had known many of soldiers like that.</p><p>After looking away and back to the woman she assumed to be the small band's leader, Kassandra told Andromache, "No one will know of what I saw if you swear on the Styx the same."</p><p>Invoking such an old swear would have made Barnabas spit and tell her not to make foolish oaths.  But he was long dead and passed over that very river in the Underworld.  Now, now it was all just words to her that reminded her of where she had come from.  No matter where she was and will be.</p><p>There was a long, harsh pause.  The men had gotten to their feet and seemed to be waiting as well.  The other woman glanced to Andromache with a silent, questioning look.</p><p>But all Andromache focused on was Kassandra.</p><p>"Fine.  I swear."</p><p>And that was it.</p><p>Once those words had been uttered, she turned away.  The group left easily, without words being shared.  Like a family who knew each other so well to not need words to know what the other was thinking.  Kassandra felt a pang in her heart in missing those she had once shared that with.  Her crew and new family.</p><p>She turned away as well and continued walking along her journey, letting the Staff disappear.  No place held a destination in her mind now, just the aching loneliness.  There was a pain of unfairness that she walked this world alone.</p><p>How lucky they were if they all shared that gift, to be at each other's side through no matter what.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>&gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt;</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>When Kassandra met them again, it was because her father's armor was on display in a museum.  At least two thousand years had passed since she had seen him wear it, and still it brought a hitch in her chest.</p><p>He was buried with the rest of their family, though that graveyard probably was not there anymore.  Or maybe it was, but it had been so long since she had visited Greece.  Even after so long, memories still haunted her like ghosts.</p><p>It was gazing at this armor, that she noticed a gentleman approach her.</p><p>He walked like a soldier and had the look in his eye like one.  But those looks should have belonged to a much older man than the one that stood there next to her in the gas lamplight.  The refined gentleman looks hid nothing that her eyes couldn't clearly see after so long.  An ill-fitted piece of armor would have sat better on him than the way he carried himself now.</p><p>"Interested in the armor?" she asked and received a small, surprised look from the man due to the accent she never lost.  "You can't stop staring."</p><p>"Just wondering who wore it a long time ago, madame."  The French in his voice appeared odd in the London museum, but nothing she would comment on.  His tone seemed tired and curious at the same time, which made her wonder why he was out in such a busy public place for the new exhibit.</p><p>Kassandra began to wonder if he was truly examining the armor or actually waiting for someone, just as someone called out, "Booker!"</p><p>The man turned away from the exhibit to greet the caller.  Kassandra remained staring, though she knew that voice.  Few voices haunted her memories, and one was because how it tempted her to find the other.  After their last meeting and what it could mean, it was hard to beat down the craving of finding others similar to her.</p><p>But now another few hundred years had passed, and she remained alone on her own journey.</p><p>"Nicky and Joe were looking for you-" the woman said as she walked over, a stride in her step that could part water.  When Andromache looked over at Kassandra, her eyes widened with familiarity.</p><p>"You-!" she began to say with surprise, though not so concerned and wary as she had been those hundred years back.</p><p>“Greetings once more,” Kassandra greeted, though out of the corners of her eyes she noticed the same two men that she had once met before.  All that was missing was the woman with black hair.  “I am surprised to meet once more.”</p><p>““Meet once more”?  What is she talking about, Andy?” the one called Booker asked, with a new wariness and heightened state of alertness.  The Frenchman seemed to be looking for direction and escape.  His wild eyes reminded her so acutely of her brother, when he finally broke away from the Cult’s control, that the pain in her heart brought Kassandra to tears.</p><p>But she stood fast and waited with her eyes on Andromache, now “Andy,” for what she wanted to do or say to her.  Kassandra had held to her oath, speaking not a word about what she saw.  Given that she wasn't hounded by those that sought the Staff's powers -even though they wouldn't have known-, it would seem that they kept their oath as well.  It was relieving, in a way, to know that some trust remained in this world.</p><p>"We have met before," Kassandra explained to the one called Booker, just as Andy added, "A long time ago."</p><p>The Keeper offered a small smile to the other woman, though it was not returned with the same easiness.  Instead, the man that had cradled Nicolò when he was hurt and standing with him now offered one back instead.  They all looked healthy and well now, though Kassandra could see how the ages had gotten to them.</p><p>Their souls were old.  Kassandra knew that feeling well now.</p><p>When it became apparent that the group were quiet because of her being there, regardless that the museum was full of ladies and gentlemen chattering about, Kassandra decided to break the silence. “I came here to look at this armor.”  She could feel the itch of anxiousness crawl up her arms but smoothed it out with the calmness that they weren’t going to hurt her.</p><p>At least, not so public.  It certainly would make quite a scene that would be talked about.</p><p>"As did we,” the one named Joe told her, this time smiling warmly as he spoke.  There was a friendly warmth about him that reminded Kassandra of Socrates.  This time, the old ache wasn’t stirred up.  It surprised her.</p><p>"Do you know of it?" Nicky asked this, shifting closer to Joe’s side as though there was an invisible line keeping them together.  Kassandra was aware of the norms of this society, with its ruling Queen Victoria, and she knew how religions had painted too many hurts across the lands.</p><p>Kassandra chuckled before looking back at the armor, polished enough to show off the golden scales along with the wolf adorning the helmet, "Well enough, being that it was my father's."</p><p>They, this group of people far older than anyone else present now, were the only ones close.  Kassandra knew that they would not be overheard, but still she was on guard after so playfully admitting that.  Hunting her had been a priority once, of a group that sought to end her bloodline.  So foolish, for them to believe she would do so with immortality hanging like a sword over her head.</p><p>"Your father's…" Booker finally managed to mutter out, a certain confused wildness in his eyes that she saw once she glanced to him.  "Are you...like us?"</p><p>Kassandra's eyes darted around, looking for ghosts and Cultists where there were none.  At least, known by <em>those</em> namesakes.  She still knew that there were always long shadows that hid the darkness of man.</p><p>Order and Chaos were always at war with each other.</p><p>It was not her place to take a side or mediate.  She was the Keeper, to bring the Staff to the Heir of Memories.  However long that would be.</p><p>As she came out of such thoughts, seeing how they all noticed her small mental slip away into them, Kassandra gave a slight incline of her head in a nod, "In a way, yes.  In the ways you know or may know, then no.  How I came into the possession is...complicated."</p><p>That confused Booker, leaving his face thoroughly drawn in confusion.  Joe and Nicky appeared to think over her words as well, before giving her the benefit of the doubt of belief.  It was only Andy that didn’t.  Her face showed deep thoughts, calculations that reminded Kassandra of generals and worthy soldiers knowing how to win a battle with bits and pieces of knowledge.</p><p>“The Staff of yours grants you it, doesn’t it?” Andy finally asked-but-didn’t.  She came to her conclusion with the serious look on her face remaining and a darkness in her eyes that shadowed all color there.  It surely would have frightened anyone else standing before her.</p><p>But Kassandra was the Eagle-Bearer, killer of monsters and man.</p><p>“What it does, I cannot easily tell you.  It is my fate to carry it, and it allows me however long that is needed.”</p><p>The itch returned to her hands, clenching and unclenching them.  Maybe it was wrong to trust these people.  Maybe whatever source of their “immortality” needed more power.  She was foolish to have easily spoke about herself.  It was...a mistake, a slip-up.  Of desiring what she could never have again.  Friendship, companionship.</p><p>All four sets of eyes stared at her, before finally Joe spoke up, softening his words, “A heavy burden, I’m sure.  Let us not trouble you any longer.  Right, Andy?”</p><p>Andy didn’t move, didn’t blink.  Even when Joe lightly brushed his hand against her arm and murmuring words in another language, she remained steadfast and staring.  Then, in one blink, she was walking away with the other three men as they all melted back among the crowds of wealthy Londoners.</p><p>Kassandra watched them go, feeling no one particular feeling.</p><p>How was she meant to feel after all that?</p><p>There were so many more questions she could have asked them.  So much she might have been able to learn.  But, even if she had, a part of her knew it wouldn’t change anything.  Her path was set, and the world would keep on turning as her solidarity life continued until culmination.</p><p>Once a warrior, now a wanderer.</p><p>She just knew now, however, that that wouldn’t be the last time she would meet them.  Fate seemed keen on them meeting.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>&gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt;</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Kassandra read the news and happening of the world she walked from one end to the other.  Read the stories that passed by her ears in marketplaces and bazars.  Even if she knew she couldn’t believe them all, Herodotus had cautioned her on the believability of stories and to look for the truth in history, she was clued in whenever she heard about the good deeds of people.  When war and devastation happened, there were always some dedicating themselves in saving people.</p><p>That’s how she kept track of that group, that small knit family.</p><p>She would see pictures, remembering their faces no matter how they grew or lost their hair.</p><p>Each one looked the same.  No amount of time decayed their features or aged them past their primes.</p><p>Each one helped the world as much as four could.</p><p>Kassandra felt a small envy in that.  Even though she was not bound by any laws by divine hand or by her spectral guide, she knew that her time had come and gone.  Of course, she would save an innocent if they were in trouble -each child reminded her of Phoebe- or help if she was passing through a village or town that was pushed past its breaking point.</p><p>But, like them, Kassandra knew that there was a line that couldn’t be crossed.  Power was corruptible, no matter the intentions.</p><p>For each brief sighting she saw of them, a part of her longed to join them.  She didn’t think they would reject her.  Probably enjoy the welcomed company of another to share the years with, it would be what she would do.  But another part of her soul couldn’t bare the thoughts of hurting, of the pain that would eventually happen.</p><p>Was that weakness?</p><p>As she stared up into at the bright stars dotting the sky as she rested her travels in Sweden, Kassandra thought about when she had become so afraid.  Afraid of the life she was living.  The price of carrying the Staff might be that.  It had taken Pythagoras' mind as he wanted to know the truths about the divine and the world, and now it had taken her resolve.</p><p>A long exhale of breath fogged in the air from her lips.  Slowly, Kassandra shut her eyes to simply <em>exist</em>.  </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>&gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt;</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Kassandra was pleasantly surprised to see the new, younger face among the group she had met and to witness to their exploits throughout the years.  The woman also was surprised just as well, looking back to the group that seemed much somber now than it had been less than a hundred years ago when the world finally came to a somewhat peace after the second of the World Wars.  A frown danced upon Kassandra’s lips at what happened, especially when she realized the one named “Booker” wasn’t there.</p><p>“How did you-” the young woman asked, eyes bouncing over to the several bodies littering the ground and then back to the golden spear that the Staff had taken the form of.</p><p>Kassandra allowed it to fade back into a bracelet she kept it as now, “I saw that you might needed some assistance.”</p><p>“Ah, She-Who-Keeps-Meeting-Us,” Joe joked lightly, though there was a strain in his face and lips as she spoke, “I would say that it...interesting to meet you once more.  And yes, Nile, we have met her before.  Though it has been some time.”</p><p>Nile paused, clearly debating on holstering her gun before doing so, “Is she...like us?”</p><p>Kassandra couldn’t help but to chuckle lightly, “I was asked that before by him too!  Funny how that question repeats itself.”</p><p>“And you never did answer us.”  Andy looked far more injured than her compatriots, Kassandra noted.  She took a few steps over, hand reaching towards her wound.  Even as the golden bracelet, the Staff’s power still would be able to flow through her to help heal the slow-bleeding wound at the woman’s side.</p><p>Instead of allowing her, Andy turned her body away from the hand, and her eyes narrowed to a fine point.  “I’m <em>fine</em>.”</p><p>“You really aren’t, Andy,” Nicky muttered, looking a bit disappointed at her for saying so, and looked towards Kassandra now, “And we never did get your name after so long.  Apologies.”</p><p>“None taken,” Kassandra answered back with an easy smile, “Kassandra.”</p><p>“Well, our mission here is done.  Would you care to join us somewhere less...a battlefield?” Nicky asked, remarking on the state of their meeting.</p><p>Kassandra hadn’t met to stop and investigated why a town in the Columbian countryside was far too quiet than it should be, but she was glad she did.  Because one more pair of hands meant she had managed to help save a few more children that could have easily lost their lives or at least family members in the gang attack.  It was then that she realized that helping people, fighting, still flowed through her veins.  Like her blood, it never fully left her.  Even though the weapons were different, how she moved felt...right.</p><p>Plus, it meant meeting these unique individuals once more as well.</p><p>“I...think I would like to.”  Staying to speak with them longer than a quick conversation felt right.  She knew that telling them all the truth wasn’t something she would do.  Burdening them with the truth seemed unfair and foolish.</p><p>But companionship, that felt right.</p><p> </p><p>It was later, into the night in an abandoned farmstead, that the chatter of good-natured laughter and smell of a well-cooked dinner floated in the air.  Outside the farmstead, the sounds of the jungle and its animals were heard and mixed with happened inside of the small home for the group now.</p><p>Kassandra had shed away the jacket she had been wearing, even flexing for Nile and showing her the scars that she bore.  All worries and weariness of travels melted away.  She was young and among companions.  The bracelet’s shine danced in the lamplight as she did as she described taking down the Calydonian Boar for Daphne.</p><p>“It smelled terrible, never stopping its farting while it charged!”</p><p>The laughter from Joe made her grin even more, taking a sip of the drink that was aged well.  Nicky also chuckled, though he looked more in thought about the monster she spoke of.  Kassandra knew that names had become legends after a while.  Even Andy at the table cracked a small grin, mostly after drinking enough that her cheeks bore the rosy hue.</p><p>“I can’t believe it, and everything else you told us,” Nile remarked with a soft laughter in her voice, “if you really fought in the Peloponnesian War and seen all that, then you must be…”</p><p>“Old,” Kassandra finished for her with an amused grin, “Very old.  Some days feels longer than others, but this is my life.  As long as it takes me.”</p><p>“To where?” Nile asked, soon noticing how the other immortals she called family grew quieter and more somber.  “I mean, do you help out people?”</p><p>“Not like you all do.”  There was a pause that Kassandra took, taking a sip of the alcohol that did not burn as much as unshed tears and the lump forming in her throat.  But she swallowed it down, learning to do so after so many years.  “I...can’t.  It is not as though I don’t want to.  But my path lies with the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus and to whom I will bring its power to, be they worthy.  This world, has its shadows that I hope you <em>never</em> find out about.”</p><p>As she looked among them, this small family that obviously cared so much about each other, she knew what could easily happen to them if those of demanding Order or unbridled Chaos found them.  They wouldn’t stand a chance against them, no matter how much they fought.</p><p>“I am not supposed to intervene.  To keep the Balance.  It is not...easy.  But I learned a lesson that taught it to me well.”</p><p>A silence descended upon the interior of the farmhouse.  Bugs buzzed in the air, as the sounds of static from the radio far off in the corner hummed.  Kassandra watched them digest the words she had told them.  But she did not regret in telling them such truths and warnings.  Maybe it was good that they knew.</p><p>After swallowing a deep drink of hers, Andy nodded her head once and muttered out, “It isn’t easy.”</p><p>And that was all that was said on such a matter.</p><p>Kassandra was a bit relieved when the conversation did end about her.  She still told them small stories, of Barnabas and her mother, but nothing more about the Staff or what her destiny was.  The gods had given her this path, and she could not change it.  But she wasn’t alone now.</p><p>It was almost difficult to leave them again.  Kassandra had to, in the end.</p><p>It was Nile who came up to her as she was about to leave the safehouse after staying with them through the night.  The young woman, who still reminded her of the days when she was just that young and new to the greater lands of her homeland and the world, looked almost sad that she was leaving.  An instinct arose in Kassandra to comfort her, to give her some peace, and to remind her of the pride she felt in seeing such a warrior fighting to save others.</p><p>Instead, she reached into the bag she carried with her and pulled out a lone carving of an eagle she had with her.  </p><p>After holding out her hand to put it in Nile’s warm palm, she told her, “Something to remember me by.  Take Chara and remember to think of me fondly.”</p><p>Nile stared down at the small, hand-made carving with slight confusion and gratitude, “You sound like you’re…”  As she looked up, Kassandra’s soft and sad smile made the words die off on her lips.</p><p>“I go with the wind, where the gods need me to be.”</p><p>Nile frowned, and Kassandra knew the other wanted to ask her more.  She was such a strong, young woman.  A part of Kassandra ached to think that maybe, just maybe, Phoebe could have been like her.  But maybe now, the other would have someone to watch over her as she walked with her family.</p><p>Because knew that she had one last duty to take care of now.  The Staff was calling to her to walk to where she would need to go and meet the Heir of Memories.</p><p>“May your life be yours, Nile!” Kassandra called back to the other woman as she walked away, hearing the words echoed back.</p><p>That was all Kassandra could hope for.  That the other was given a life to live that was her own, even with the immortality through her veins.  There was still much to be done in this world, much to do and learn.  But Kassandra knew that there were some always apt enough to take on any challenge and get back up.  Souls who had a fight within them that burned brighter than the injustice and hatred.</p><p>Family stuck together too, souls too alike to part from one another.</p><p>Kassandra couldn’t wait to be reunited with her own, looking up into the night sky to see the dots of bright lights above.  All of those she had long lived past were waiting for her.</p><p>“I’ll be with you all shortly,” she murmured out softly, carrying on her way through the Columbian jungle on one last trek back to her homeland, back to Greece.  One last journey for her to take.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>&gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt; ~ &gt;</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"<em>All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are <strong>immortal and divine</strong>.</em>"</p><p>-Socrates</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come visit <a href="https://anaya-of-wolves.tumblr.com/">my tumblr</a> if you want to talk more!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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